This invention relates to methods and apparatus for magnetically navigating magnetically responsive medical devices in an operating region in a subject.
Medicine is increasingly relying on the remote navigation of medical devices in the body to reduce patient trauma, speed recovery, and perform procedures that could not be performed with conventional surgical techniques. Magnetic navigation of medical devices provides fast, simple, and reliable navigation in a subject's body. With the reduced size and increase flexibility of magnetically responsive medical devices, magnetically navigated devices can reach parts of the subjects body that could not be reached with most previously available remote navigation techniques.
Magnetic navigation relies upon external source magnets, either electromagnets, or more recently permanent magnets, to provide a controllable magnetic field in an operating region in a subject to orient a magnetically responsive device in the operating region. A challenge for magnetic navigation is to position the magnet sufficient close to the patient to provide a sufficiently strong field for magnetic navigation, while accommodating patients of varying sizes, leaving room for other medical equipment (particularly imaging equipment), and provide access to the patient.